Netanyahu to LGBT leaders: Gantz also won’t guarantee you equal rights

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosts LGBT leaders at his official residence in Jerusalem and says though his Likud party is committed to advancing equal rights for the community, he won’t this make this a condition to joining a coalition he heads after elections on Tuesday.

Netanyahu points to expected opposition from religious and ultra-Orthodox parties he is allied with to explain why he can’t make promoting gay rights a goal of a government he heads.

He also says his main political rival Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party will not succeed in guaranteeing equal rights.

“Benny Gantz also won’t succeed in giving you anything. The religious won’t allow him to pass anything,” he is quoted saying by Channel 12, referring to a scenario in which Gantz forms a government that includes religious parties.